


Return to Innocence

by jacquelee



Series: Writer's Month 2020 [19]
Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Star Trek Fusion, Gen, Star Trek Voyager AU, based on episode 2x22 Innocence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-21
Updated: 2020-08-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:01:13
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,798
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26029132
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jacquelee/pseuds/jacquelee
Summary: Ava gets stranded on a moon and meets four children she bonds with. Sara is trying to negotiate with the uncooperative Drayans to help her get back to the Waverider.Star Trek Voyager AU.
Relationships: Sara Lance & Ava Sharpe
Series: Writer's Month 2020 [19]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1861585
Kudos: 1
Collections: Writer's Month 2020





	Return to Innocence

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [Writer's Month 2020](https://writersmonth.tumblr.com) for the Day 19 prompt Deaging.

They had just finished showing First Prelate Anh Ly the med bay when she got a call from her planet and after she had taken it in private, came back out to tell them she was being called away on urgent business but that the visit to the Waverider had been an experience.

"I am glad I have broken our tradition of avoiding outsiders to visit your vessel. It is remarkable."

Sara smiled widely, hopeful that a trade agreement could be arranged. 

"I'm glad. We were hoping we could deepen the conversation, get to know each other even better."

"Unfortunately, while this has been an interesting experience, it was not enough to change my mind about our traditions. We wish you safe journeys. May you reach your home in peace."

With that, the Prelate and her delegation left the med bay, leaving Sara to look after them, slightly stunned by the abrupt departure.

"Okay then. I guess we have to get our polyferranide somewhere else."

"Maybe we can appeal to them still? Make it clear that we will make sure to honor their culture and traditions? That we are not here to interfere in any way?"

Even Amaya sounded skeptical, but Sara appreciated her trying.

"No, it's okay. If they don't want to trade, we'll respect their wishes. Call back the shuttles from the exploration missions. I want to leave as soon as possible."

"Yes, Captain."

Sara sighed and then followed Amaya out to the bridge. Well, guess they couldn't win them all over. 

When they entered the bridge, Mona started briefing them. 

"Captain, we called back one of the shuttles we sent out to scout the moons, Charlie and Lieutenant Tarazi are on their way back. But we have gotten no answer from Commander Sharpe and Astra. I've estimated their course following their ion signature, but it looks like the shuttle might have crashlanded on the fourth moon. There are strong electromagnetic storms that they probably got caught up in. I have trouble scanning through those storms, so I cannot say for sure if they are on the surface."

Worry settled in the pit of Sara's stomach.

"Can you get us closer to that moon? Maybe that will improve the scanners accuracy."

"Of course, Captain."

When they reached the fourth moon, they noticed the First Prelate's ship in orbit. Sara turned towards Mona. 

"Let's make this fast, Ensign. I don't want to provoke them by overstaying our welcome."

They tried hailing the shuttle again, but couldn't cut through the interference. Scanners weren't of much help, even with the proximity. Sara had taken to pacing the bridge when they received a hail from the Drayan's ship.

"Captain Lance, I thought we were clear. We do not desire more contact with your people."

"Of course, and I respect that, but we have reason to believe that there are members of our crew on that moon. The moment they are safely back on board, we will leave."

Anh Ly nodded.

"We have found your shuttle, it is damaged. The pilot is in bad shape, but will live. We will arrange to have her transported over to you."

The momentary relief Sara felt at those words was fast overtaken by worry as she realized the Prelate was only talking about one person, not two.

"Thank you. But there were two people on board that shuttle. Did you find any signs of the second one?"

"Not yet. But we have search parties looking for them, be assured we will find them soon."

"Maybe we could send another shuttle down, join the-"

"No! This moon is our place of Crysata, it is not to be disturbed. We cannot allow any interference on these grounds. When we find your crewmember, they will be brought back to you. That is all."

With that, the Prelate ended the communication.

Sara nearly huffed in frustration, but stopped herself at the last second.

"I guess we will wait then. Ensign, keep trying those scanners and keep hailing the shuttle crew. Have the Drayans beam whoever it is they have directly to med bay. I will be there. And just in case they change their minds, I want to be ready to go down to that moon. For that, we need to find a way to get through those storms."

Sara went to the med bay to find that Astra had already been transported there. Gideon assured her that she would make a full recovery and that she could question her as soon as she woke up. 

Trying not to hover, Sara nevertheless stayed in the med bay to wait for Astra to regain consciousness. When she did, the news weren't good. She only remembered having scanned the fourth moon and being caught in the electromagnetic storm that forced the shuttle to crash land. 

"After that, I must have black out. I woke up here. I'm sorry, Captain."

"That's okay. I'm sure Commander Sharpe is fine. Get some rest."

She tried to sound more confident than she felt, when all she could think about was where the hell Ava was and how they could get to her.

\-----

"I'm scared! They're going to kill us!"

"Please, try to be quiet. We just need to stay hidden a little bit longer so that we can avoid the search parties."

"And then what? How do we get away from them? The Morrok will find us and kill us. We will all die here!"

Ava sighed. She didn't have much experience with children on top of never herself having been one, and these last few hours had been a test of patience. After having crash landed on this planet and having stabilized Astra, who remained unconscious but didn't seem mortally wounded, she had started on repairs to the shuttle, but had been distracted by four unaccompanied young children, who seemed to be no older than six, speaking in human terms.

At first, they had been hostile but when she had assured them that she meant them no harm, they had told her that their shuttle had also crashed, killing all the adult attendants. Because of the lack of other adults, the children had quickly taken to her, but that hadn't lasted very long, as she tried to teach them discipline and how to sit still and not touch anything. 

Eventually, she had been so frustrated that she let slip that she had never been a child, that she was a clone and all her memories were fake. That for some reason seemed to endear her to the children who had been much more friendly after that, even helping her with repairs. 

But then, one of the children had wandered off when she didn't look for one second and the others seemed to think that a beast called the Morrok had killed him. When Ava went to investigate a nearby cave, she only found his clothes. Coming back to the children, she was confused but inclined to believe that something weird was going on here. That was when the children confided in her that they had been sent to this moon for a reason, that they were to fight the Morrok and to die, as per the tradition of their people.

Ava hadn't known what to make of it, but the children seemed to be frightened to death and after another one of them disappeared, she had agreed to try and avoid the search parties, hoping that leaving Astra with the shuttle was the right decision and would see her brought back to the Waverider. 

They had successfully hidden behind vegetation, but the remaining two children, Alexis and Kina, were very scared. Ava sighed but tried to stay calm.

"So far we haven't sent any signs that the Morrok is real. And I will protect you from whatever means you harm, even if that is your own people." She gestured towards the shuttle, where the search teams where clearing out now, to her relief carrying a stretcher. Hopefully that meant Astra was safe. "See, they are already leaving. We will get back to the shuttle, repair it and then get back to the Waverider, or at least send a signal to it."

"But they will not let us leave. They will bring us back. They want us dead."

"Once we get to my ship, you can both request asylum. Then, we can protect you."

"You promise?"

"I promise."

Still looking at the shuttle, Ava was surprised when she suddenly felt two arms around her, hugging her tightly around the waist, followed quickly by another set of arms.

She smiled a little, never having expected to grow fond of these children when just a few hours ago she thought of them as more like little monsters, but nevertheless, it had happened. And she vowed to keep that promise, to make sure they were safe no matter what.

When she was certain the search parties had left, she led them back to the shuttle and continued repairs. Thankfully, it didn't take long anymore, and soon they were ready to try take off. Wanting to make sure that the children were secure, she turned around but there was only one of them.

"Kina?" Ava ran out of the shuttle, but she already knew she wouldn't find anything. She swallowed the lump in her throat and went back into the shuttle, were Alexis was waiting for her with wide, tearful eyes. She tried to smile encouragingly. "It's okay. We just need to get to my ship and it'll be okay." 

She hoped that wasn't going to turn out to be a lie. They lifted off successfully, but had barely cleared the atmosphere when the shuttle started malfunctioning. Apparently her repairs hadn't been as successful as she had hoped. At least she was able to establish a connection with the Waverider, glad to see Sara's face on the screen.

"Commander, it's good to see you. We are trying to get a lock on you but the electromagnetic interference in the planet's atmosphere make it hard. Can you make it back here on your own?"

Before she could answer, the hail was interrupted and instead of Sara's face, she now was looking at the First Prelate. And she did not look happy. At all.

"Where is Alexis? We know you have her. We demand you return her to the surface, right now."

Ava looked back at Alexis, who was shaking her head fearfully. Returning her attention to the view screen she tried to plaster a smile on her face.

"I am sorry, but I can't do that. Alexis has requested asylum. She is under the impression that you mean her harm."

"She is confused. She needs to come back to the surface right now. Alexis please, we are sorry that you didn't have the guidance needed, but if you just come back, we will explain. These people are outsiders, they don't understand."

"I don't want to go with you. I want to stay with Ava."

At that, the Prelate frowned and cut the connection. Seconds later, the shuttle shook violently. Alexis screamed and Ava realized the Drayans were shooting at them, clearly not enough to destroy them, but enough to knock out their propulsion. She tried to keep the shuttle under control but didn't have much luck. They would have to go back to the surface.

"Damn it." Realizing that cursing wasn't going to help Alexis be less frightened, she turned around, trying to smile but failing. "Okay, we'll have to go back to the surface. But don't worry, I'll still protect you."

Alexis nodded tentatively, still clearly very scared. 

Ava managed to hail the Waverider again and asked Sara to sent another shuttle down to the surface to assist her, not having the opportunity to explain anything before the signal broke up, but certain that Sara would do as she asked. After all, that was what she always did, coming to her rescue. Even when it meant risking their diplomatic relations with the Drayans. 

The landing was smoother than Ava had expected and Alexis and her managed to avoid the search parties long enough for her to pick up on another shuttle with her tricorder. They had nearly reached that shuttle's location when they were intercepted, Drayans quickly surrounding them.

Alexis was hiding behind her, hugging her legs when the First Prelate came up to her. 

"Give us Alexis and leave. Nobody needs to get hurt."

"She doesn't want to go with you. She thinks you sent her here to die and she wants to live."

"That is not her decision. Her time has come. There is nothing I or you or anyone else can do about that."

The First Prelate stepped closer and she was already prepared to fight them one to ten when her heart nearly stopped at the sound of a familiar voice behind them.

"Let's see about that, shall we?"

The Prelate seemed to be more annoyed than surprised when Sara, Kendra and Vasquez appeared behind them, phasers raised.

"Captain, please do not interfere. This does not concern you."

Ava answered, knowing Sara had no idea what was actually going on here.

"As I said, Alexis has requested asylum. So, yes, it does concern us."

Now the Prelate sighed and addressed Alexis directly.

"Alexis, please understand, we don't mean you harm. They don't get it, they don't know about our ways. They can't guide you. We can."

"Ava did. She helped us. Even when she doesn't understand what it means to be a kid, she still tried her best. She promised to protect us from the Morrok. I want to stay with her."

For the first time, the Prelate looked at Ava with something like respect, even though it was overshadowed by curiosity and still quite a lot of distrust.

"Is that so? You provided those in the Crysata with guidance when their attendants couldn't?"

"In the Crysata? You mean the children? Yes, I did. I tried to anyways."

To Ava's complete shock, the Prelate now bowed her head to her, stepping back. 

"Then you have been chosen. I did not think it could be possible for an outsider to do this duty but it is a great honor and privilege to provide guidance to those going through the Crysata. We will retreat, so you may proceed."

For a moment, nobody said anything, but then Sara spoke up.

"Wait, back up, what? A few minutes ago you were ready to go to war with us so over disturbing whatever it is you're doing here and now… what? What is going on here? Is the kid's life in danger or not?"

Ava very much wanted the answer to all those questions too, especially to the most pressing one. 

"The other children disappeared. I will not let that happen to Alexis."

That seemed to confuse the Prelate. 

"But you just agreed to guide her in the Crysata. Her life is coming to an end. It is nature. As I said, there is nothing anyone can do."

"Coming to an end? She's a child, her life has just begun!"

"She is not a child. In your years, she is three hundred and ninety three. Her life is over. Her energy already has begun to dissolve and very soon she will join everyone who came before her in the light. That is how it is. Before we die, we become children again, losing our memories, returning to a state of complete innocence. That is when the Crysata starts, when we come here where all life began. If the attendants had been here, it would all have been explained, these days would have been filled with encouragement, with tales of fights against the Morrok, a beast that stands for death, for our fears. It would have been a time of mourning but not a time to be scared. This is our way." 

Ava was stunned. She couldn't help but look at Alexis in a completely different light now. Nearly four hundred years old? She still just looked like a frightened child.

"Ava?"

"I'm sorry. It seems like I was wrong. But I will still be with you, if you want that."

Alexis nodded.

"Will we have to fight the Morrok?"

The First Prelate smiled at her warmly.

"No. The Morrok does not exist."

"Okay." She took Ava's hand and nodded. "Then I'm ready. I guess."

The First Prelate and her people withdrew, as did Sara and the rest of the crew, not without a pointed look at Ava that clearly said she expected a thorough explanation later. Ava smiled at Alexis, still not really understanding much of this, but realizing that it wasn't necessary for her to understand, just to be by Alexis' side.

"Let's go into the light, then."


End file.
